Started build on a 66’ (Photo Heavy)

[bigboar]

Hey all,
Long time lurker, first time poster. I have started a build on a 66 3/4 ton which belonged to a friends dad. We worked out a deal on it and its going to be for my son who is 14. The truck has 41k miles on it with a 3 on the tree and the 305 big block v6 long bed.
The plan for the truck is to bag it, add power steering, 4 wheel disc brakes, do a custom interior and leave the outside old. I have had the truck a few months now and made some progress.
We started with a 1985 donor which i did the crossmember swap and used the rear end out of. I bought an adjustable trailing arm crossmember and got a set of the nascar arms for pretty cheap. I then built a panhard bar and did a rear the rear disc conversion using eldorado calipers so he would still have an e-brake.
The next step was installing the bag kit. It uses a bluetooth module and i used an iphone 5 i had lying around which is what will be controlling it.
I then moved on to the power steering situation. Not fun, couldnt find any pulleys or brackets so I ended up modifyi g the stock pulleys along with using the crank pulley and pump from the 85 donor. I had alot of help from the previous owner who happens to own a machine shop. We split the crank pulley and he machined and welded them to my existing crank and water pump pulley. He then helped me make the pump bracket. I then welded in one of the steering box brackets and shortened the stock steering shaft and used the box from the 85 which looked like it had recently been replaced and is the 3.5 ratio. It is all in and works perfect, it is nice to have power steering! The brakes were simple as i bought the kit with master, booster, and disc proportioning valve and ran new lines using the copper nickel line. That stuff is great to work with!
The interior is where i am at now and it is a work in progress. It is going to be pearl white. I bought one of those intellitronix digital dash kits for a c-10 and went to work on that. I like how it turned out. I just completed the console build. Ended up with over 50 hours in it. I even went through the trouble of making ductwork run through it so the heat will blow on the driver side😂.
I could go on and on but this post would take forever so here are some pics of it so far.

[bigboar]

More photos...

[bigboar]

And more..

[bigboar]

And more...

[bigboar]

Some more photos..

[bigboar]

Power steering..

[bigboar]

On to the interior

[bigboar]

Console build continued

[bigboar]

This thing was time consuming😂😂

[bigboar]

And more...

[bigboar]

Last group. Sorry all😂😂

[bigboar]

not sure why but it looks like some of my pics flipped upside down. door panels for instance, the flames are at the top.

[Funky61]

Wow Bigboar; you have crazy mad skills!
Kudos on keeping the V6. This is coming out Fantastic.

[bigboar]

Wow Bigboar; you have crazy mad skills!
Kudos on keeping the V6. This is coming out Fantastic.

thanks funky, much appreciated! I love the v6 and a 3 on the tree was the first vehicle I learned to drive so I figured my boy might as well do the same. lol

[bigboar]

a little more accomplished.. i bought billet knobs for the headlight,choke and wiper switches and redrilled them to fit. i also made the mount for 4” speakers in the dash(not to worried about looks with it since its hidden). Made the lower panels for the doors which will hold the 6x9s. The panels will be cover with black vinyl like the seat only I am having my shop name embroidered in them in between the speakers.
I also got everything removed from the inside and am ready to start the bodywork and get it ready to refinish.

[csnsdhl]

:upyes:

Cool truck! I've been planing a similar build in my mind all summer, now getting ready to start in a month or two!

[bigboar]

:upyes:

Cool truck! I've been planing a similar build in my mind all summer, now getting ready to start in a month or two!

Thanks! Planning it is what I like best! That may be because I run a collision shop and have to do it every day which takes the fun out of the actual work😂.

I know this is the wrong brand but here is a before and after of my current truck. I did it back during the spring.

[bigboar]

Back on track.

Here is a quick vid of us playing with the idle
9QkkcOQEOoQ

Here is one when I had just finished the bags. Having to control the solenoids with the dangling wires since I dont have the controller installed yet
CsEtYKj2Al8

[bigboar]

I know some will hate this but my boy wants a good stereo system😂. I am putting in a kenwood excelon head unit along with 4 kenwood 6x9, 2 kicker 4” in dash being driven by a polk amp. Yesterday I covered the lowered door panels and broke out the plasma cutter on the doors😳😂. there will be an oval nickel badge placed in between the speakers once they are finished and sent to me. Now that its finished, I tore everything back out and am ready to get started on the body itself.

[1965GMCK1502]

thanks funky, much appreciated! I love the v6 and a 3 on the tree was the first vehicle I learned to drive so I figured my boy might as well do the same. lol

That is an awesome build!! We have some lucky children! My 14 year old and I are trying to get our 65 ready for him as well! It’s gonna be hard for me to hand over those keys though. 😂

[bigboar]

That is an awesome build!! We have some lucky children! My 14 year old and I are trying to get our 65 ready for him as well! It’s gonna be hard for me to hand over those keys though. 😂

Nice!! You got that right! I am told all the time I will be driving it more than him😂😂👍

[bigboar]

A little more accomplished... floor is finished.

[1965GMCK1502]

a little more accomplished... Floor is finished.

sweet!

[bigboar]

Inside is painted. Going to be taking a break from it for a little bit now

[bigboar]

sweet!

Thanks bro!

[bigboar]

Made some progress....

When we had originally got the truck my son wanted to paint it pearl white. We did the bed awhile ago and then he decided wanted to leave the truck red and keep it old looking on the exterior.
I got the fun part of trying to change it back from new and shiney to old and dull. The truck was originally teal and we want to keep some of that in it. After breaking out a soda blaster, spray gun and the airbrusher(hadnt used it in years), here is the bed.
I sprayed it with matte clear coat. The sides of the inside of bed will be done in black bedliner and then the floor will be oak with stainless.

[bigboar]

A few more...

[MrCos]

Man, you did a great job so far! are you gonna go through that v6 and rebuild it? also what plans do you have for the fuel tank? just curious

[bigboar]

Man, you did a great job so far! are you gonna go through that v6 and rebuild it? also what plans do you have for the fuel tank? just curious

thanks MrCos! not gonna go through it as it only has 40k original miles on it and it runs great. as for the tank, Its gonna stay in the cab. I did buy a new OER tank though.

on a side note... I installed the new steering wheel. Also found I had a bad horn relay so replaced that. I now have the inside all closed up so I can get started on the exterior of the cab.

[WDShaffer]

You are definitely an encouragement. Where did you source the replacement tin in the cab?

[bigboar]

You are definitely an encouragement. Where did you source the replacement tin in the cab?

thanks wd! any metal I had to weld in i formed out of scrap i had around.(except for rockers)

[bigboar]

Tailgate done...

[bigboar]

Slow going lately. I exploded a disc between c5-c6 vertebrea in my neck and they had to go in and install a titanium replacement.

I did manage to get the front lower section of hood replaced using another bad hood i had lying around. Mine was rotted out in the front and the other was rotted at the back plus had about 30 dents in it. I went ahead and painted the underside and the front inner support before i install it back onto the underside. The black is still wet in photo but will dry matte. I also got the v6 emblems done.

[bigboar]

A little more progress. Got metal in inner fenders and cab corners.

[bobdylan]

Looks good

[bigboar]

Looks good

thanks!

[bigboar]

Things have been moving slowly. Did get the inner fenders blasted, bodyworked and painted along with the front support and firewall

[bigboar]

Early start this morning....

[bigboar]

Doors and fenders fitted. Now i get to take it back apart...

[1965GMCK1502]

Doors and fenders fitted. Now i get to take it back apart...

Looks great! Moving along fast now.

[bigboar]

More progress!
All i have left to finish on the body is the fenders and grille mounting panel.
Starting to feel like its getting somewhere.

[1965GMCK1502]

More progress!
All i have left to finish on the body is the fenders and grille mounting panel.
Starting to feel like its getting somewhere.

Sweet!

[bigboar]

Tank installed and did some powdercoating this morning so i can put the upper vents in and install windshield monday.

[bigboar]

Glass installed. In the process of disassembling wing vents and powdercoating them along with door latches.

[bigboar]

starting to look like a truck again...

[bigboar]

More progress. Decided to powder coat my new door handles black because i didnt like the look of the chrome with how i am doing the truck. Got battery tray installed along with new cable ends also.

[bigboar]

making more headway. powdercoated lamp housings, cab vents and all the brackets for glovebox. installed mirror, carpet and heat control. i still have to pull the carpet back up to run a bunch more wiring for the stereo but I at least got it all trimmed out. Hoping to have the interior close to being finished this week except for the digital dash.

[bigboar]

more photos..forgot i also drilled for passenger sun visor and got both those installed also.

[bigboar]

More interior work finished..

[bigboar]

Third brake light installed

[Sonic65]

Third brake light installed

Nice! What make/model is the brake light?

[bigboar]

Nice! What make/model is the brake light?

Thanks sonic! I believe it is off 99-04 suburban, Yukon. Here is the ebay link I got mine from. It is very nice and they fit like they were made for our trucks.

<br><font color='red'>To view some links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Maybe you should introduce yourself with a new topic?</font><br>

[bigboar]

Decided I better upgrade the wiring and after about 20 hours of work in the evenings here is what I ended up with. I wanted to keep all the old connections so I bought new packard 56 male and female connectors to install the new wiring into the original connectors. I also added a connection point for the digital dash.

[bigboar]

Got a little accomplished this afternoon. Started getting harness installed and got to see the dash lit up.

[bigboar]

Air ride controls installed. Also finished radio, electronic speedo, temp, tach, and oil pressure connections.
DWfN0yiNvqo

[bigboar]

dash finished up and seat installed.

[bigboar]

Sprayed bedliner yesterday and this morning I stained my bed wood with minwax true black. Still have to lay down 3 coats of satin clear but I am diggin’ the look.

[Funky61]

This is an Awesome Build; Thanks and keep posting them pics!

[bigboar]

This is an Awesome Build; Thanks and keep posting them pics!

thanks Funky, much appreciated! I feel like I am taking to myself most of the time but its cool going back through it and having a record of my progress.

[1965GMCK1502]

Coming out great! That v6 is gonna shine in the truck. You may be introducing that engine to a whole new generation. :welldone:

[bigboar]

Coming out great! That v6 is gonna shine in the truck. You may be introducing that engine to a whole new generation. :welldone:


thanks bro!

[bigboar]

Its starting to look like a truck again!

[bigboar]

Finally,,,,bed floor completed and It now has taillights too!

[bigboar]

Its starting to get its face...

[bigboar]

Got the bumpers on and got my backup light and plate lights wired. Also got both my jr west coast mirrors installed which I powder coated black. I even got to start it and pull it out of the shop today for the first time in what seems like forever!👍. Will probably have to do a couple posts for all the photos.

[bigboar]

The rest...

[bigboar]

In the process of building the exhaust. Driver side finished, on to the passenger side. 0YYEiIMdGeg

[Funky61]

BigBoar; That Looks and Sounds Fantastic! What mufflers are you running? Love the Low level Cycling tone. :welldone:

[bigboar]

BigBoar; That Looks and Sounds Fantastic! What mufflers are you running? Love the Low level Cycling tone. :welldone:

Thanks funky! They are Thrush welded mufflers 17656. if you use a 25% coupon you can get them for $30ea. at advance auto parts.

<br><font color='red'>To view some links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Maybe you should introduce yourself with a new topic?</font><br>

[bigboar]

Almost done! Finally got to test drive it today. Have to figure out why front brake calipers are dragging and get a wheel alignment and it is ready for the road!! finally....

[3/4ton Randy]

Got the bumpers on and got my backup light and plate lights wired. Also got both my jr west coast mirrors installed which I powder coated black. I even got to start it and pull it out of the shop today for the first time in what seems like forever!��. Will probably have to do a couple posts for all the photos.

I need some west coast mirrors, too! The small back window limits visibility.:well done:
How was your drive? And how did your power steering come out?

[bigboar]

I need some west coast mirrors, too! The small back window limits visibility.:well done:
How was your drive? And how did your power steering come out?

Thanks! I have now been on multiple trips and I gotta say, the air ride is awesome. Also, the shop I had do the alignment did an awesome job. The truck far exceeded my expectations for driveability and I have taken 4 people rides and all have commented they can’t believe how well it rides. The 2.73 gear in the rear worked out about perfect. I was running 65 the other day and if I remember right it was humming along at around 2k rpms. The powers steering is great. It reminds me of an 85 Camaro I had. It’s not too easy but just enough and feels tight like that car did.

I just purchased a 54 I am gonna be starting soon. It will have a speedway chassis with ford 9” four link and rack and pinion. This one is getting a ride tech air ride setup and a 383 stroker with a 700r4. I will be doing this one gloss and powder coating the chassis, etc. I already bought a ford 9” and took the third member from it to put in the speedway housing that has curry axles. I am done powdercoating it and in the process of installing 3.70 gear along with an Eaton true track position carrier. This is all for another thread but here is a before and after of it.